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Teenage girl hospitalized after mother loses control of car on Piscataquis River bridge

One person was injured when the driver of this vehicle lost control driving onto the Piscataquis River bridge in Howland in the southbound lanes of Interstate 95. A tractor-trailer that was traveling behind the car hit it after it bounced off the guardrail.

One person was injured when a driver lost control on the Piscataquis River bridge in Howland in the southbound lanes of Interstate 95. A tractor-trailer that was traveling behind the car hit it after it bounced off the guardrail.

One person was injured when a driver lost control on the Piscataquis River bridge in Howland in the southbound lanes of Interstate 95. A tractor-trailer that was traveling behind the car hit it after it bounced off the guardrail.

HOWLAND, Maine — A teenage girl was brought to a hospital Tuesday after the car her mother was driving went out of control and was struck by a tractor-trailer on Interstate 95, police said.

The 15-year-old victim and her mother, whom police declined to identify, hit a small bump on the southbound side of the Piscataquis River bridge and lost control, Maine State Police Trooper Adam Coover said at the scene, about a mile north of the Howland exit.

Coover said the sedan the woman was driving hit the bridge three times and was still spinning when the tractor-trailer struck the passenger’s side of the vehicle. The truck driver’s name was not disclosed.

The impact of the accident pinned the teenager inside the vehicle, Coover said. A Howland ambulance crew was able to free her from the wreckage.

A LifeFlight helicopter was called in for precautionary reasons, but the girl was taken by ambulance to Penobscot Valley Hospital in Lincoln. Coover did not disclose the extent of the girl’s injuries, but said wearing her seat belt likely saved her life.

“It’s very, very important that you’re wearing your seat belts,” said Coover, who also noted the vehicle had front and side air bags on the passenger’s side, which deployed.

“It makes a big difference in a crash like this,” Coover said.

Troopers closed off the southbound onramps at the Lincoln exit, about 9 miles from the crash scene, for about 20 minutes.

The vehicle the girl’s mother was driving was totaled in the accident, which remains under investigation. Coover said it’s unlikely charges will be filed.